Bodleian MS Eng. poet. d. 189 | Manuscript Verse Miscellanies

Title	Untitled
Archive	Bodleian Library
Call Number	Bodleian MS Eng. poet. d. 189
Complete	Yes
Description	Anonymous Oxonian, 1790s. Some items possibly marked for copying. 214 poems. Lots of Latin poetry, and English poetry with Greek titles.
Format	Folio
Book Size	30.9cm x 19.8cm
Filled Page Count	186 pages
Item Count	214
Poem Count	214
Periods	1791-1820
First Line Index	No
Digitized	No
Region	Oxford, Oxfordshire Oxfordshire
Additional Genres
Print Sources	Spectator
Major Themes	Classical themes Death, afterlife Education Latin poetry Major themes prominent among the manuscript contents in alphabetical order.
Minor Themes	Alcohol, other beverages, t... Celebrities Courtship, marriage Devotional writing, religio... Friendship Historical subjects Imitation, parody Literature Nature Public affairs Shakespeare Solitude, loneliness, retir... Other themes of interest among the manuscript contents in alphabetical order.
Links
Bibliography
Citation	“Bodleian MS Eng. poet. d. 189.” Manuscript Verse Miscellanies, 1700–1820, edited by Betty A. Schellenberg, Simon Fraser University, https://mvm.dhil.lib.sfu.ca/manuscript/138. Accessed 10 Nov. 2025.
Created	2019-09-04 1:13:44 PM
Updated	2023-07-20 2:05:47 PM

Contributor	Role
[Anonymous Oxonian]	Primary compiler Major author

First Line	Context
A Knife, dear Girl, cuts Love, they say	p. 103. Local title: Verses to a Lady. Attributed author: n/a Adaptation: n/a Other variants: n/a Other: Crossed out.
I am monarch of all I survey	p. 13 Local title: Verses supposed to be written by Alex:r Selkirk, during his solitary abode in the Island of Juan Fernandes. Attributed author: Wm. Cowper. Adaptation: n/a Other variants: n/a Other: n/a
Poor melancholy bird—that all night long	p. 180 Local title: Sonnet to a Nightingale. Attributed author: n/a Adaptation: n/a Other variants: n/a Other: crossed-out.
The rose had been wash'd, just wash'd in a shower	p. 137 Local title: The Rose. Attributed author: n/a Adaptation: n/a Other variants: n/a Other: n/a
When e'er the cruel hand of death	p. 181 Local title: Ode One ye Breaking of a China Quart Mug belonging to the Buttery of Lincoln College, Oxford. Attributed author: n/a Adaptation: n/a Other variants: Includes latin motto: Amphora non meruit Iam pretiosa mori. Other: n/a
Why mourns my friend! why weeps his downcast eye?	p. 159. Local title: Elegy by Shenstone. Attributed author: Shenstone. Attributed author: n/a Adaptation: n/a Other variants: n/a Other: n/a

Feature	Note
Author attributions	Rare.
Binding	Re-bound. Modern binding. Book originally quite worn, judging from condition of first few pages—may not have been bound in anything permanent.
Hands	Single.
Indications of use	Interim book with materials seemingly copied into some other book(s) subsequently (p. 84 – note: “Copy this”; others have “This” written on them, which also might be a mark for copying. Sometimes items have both “This” marked and an “x” – could be crossed out after copied?) Many school exercises.
Item formatting	Frequent flourishes at ends of items.
Original poetry	Maybe; some poems with no First Line Index hits, for example p. 158 "On Throwing By An Old Coat," and school exercises.
Ownership mark	Pencilled note on damaged flyleaf: "[?] if the chief portion is not written by William Cowper when a Student.”
Page layout	Paginated (retrospective by the compiler). Paper has ruled outside margins.